


(transmuted)(white blaze)

by Archistratego



Series: (///)(white///) [4]
Category: Alien Series, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Thrawn Series - Timothy Zahn (2017), alien covenant
Genre: Gen, M/M, Still bad at tagging, The Author Regrets Nothing, Unconventional Format, Unconventional POV, by which i mean xenomorph pov fragments happen, intentionally bad grammar, sort of au crossover dumpster fire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-12
Updated: 2018-10-12
Packaged: 2019-07-29 20:31:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16271798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Archistratego/pseuds/Archistratego
Summary: “—i am glad you’re here. nevertheless, you carry my legacy and i would like to see it survive this.”“i have no intentions of dying.” eli feels his eyes sting, “nor of letting you die.”Final part of the series. Chronologically takes place after (blank)(white space), (altered)(white sphere) and (indistinct)(white noise).





	(transmuted)(white blaze)

**Author's Note:**

> If you want the read the series in chronological order they go like this: 1.(blank)(white space), 2.(altered)(white sphere) and 3.(indistinct)(white noise). Initially it was planned to be a one-shot but then when more came to mind I made it a non-linear narrative. It was intended to be read in the order it was posted but just to be clear as to the timeline of events. 
> 
> Spoilers for: Thrawn(novel) and Alien Covenant. I'm taking liberties with both Star Wars and Alien canon. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!

the passages are narrow, the air circulation poor as they twist and turn; the resulting labyrinth is oppressive, offering no respite — there are bodies, few. everywhere there are holes where acid blood has corroded the metal as if were flimsy paper beneath fire.

eli vanto ignores the way his arm has begun aching as he supports thrawn’s bigger frame — only barely, the chiss is slumped and his injury deep.

they can’t afford to get caught out. eli sets thrawn down and shoves, the creak echoing down the passage as a door gives way. a storage closet will do for now.

“bacta won’t do much. we are lucky it was saliva and not their blood.” eli sets to work, gloves cast aside. the sting grows worse; a guttural hiss outside and eli’s hand is over thrawn’s mouth — firm.

his eyes do not meet thrawn’s, they’re fixed on the door; a hand curling around his blaster.

 

 

* * *

 

 

[narrow line vision.

second mouth touch metal; scent rests on tongue ——

taste((tongue))faintly set;

beats per minute 40 — 60 — 80 — 0

scrape ///

**scritch scratch scritch scratch**

UP UP vent.

//180//9//2//4609//

a king a queen an a.i.]

 

 

* * *

 

 

he sits back on his heels, dropping his hand as he stares at the steel door that shields them briefly from what is tearing the ship apart.

eli lets his forehead press gently against the white fabric of thrawn’s uniform; his uninjured shoulder, their commingled breaths the only reality left over from death’s grasp. eli looks up, a wan smile and he tries to ignore that their Death waits outside, patrolling the ruined halls of the star destroyer.

“they have several senses attuned for the simple purpose of finding their prey,” thrawn says, “fortunately, they’re not familiar with chiss.”

the realisation that _chiss_ includes _him_ ; as if he has shed his human traits and transcended — become as poised and deadly, as elegant and calculating as only chiss can be. it feels like being punched and kissed, head spinning at the weight of those words.

“chiss do not make ideal hosts for them, colder core body temperature slows down their development.” eli says, “that is why they nest close to the engines, trap their potential hosts in cocoons. they’re warm.”

settling like old times: grand admiral and faithful aide; eli had wanted to see thrawn again and now — here, with Death (Death who wears an elongated skull, acid scented, armour plated — recent wounds sting across eli’s back where the injury had been bone deep) he does not know what move to make.

“you have learnt a great deal while away, lieutenant commander eli vanto.”

his laugh is silent, pleased. “not so sure i have, sir, i came alone.” what eli is saying: you called for help across the galaxy and i came without second thought.

they exchange a look that conveys an entire conversation between them; thrawn breaks off eye contact first, a nod of understanding. eli is here, alone and without the blessing of the CEDF; a choice birthed from his impulsive nature to save thrawn and to protect the ascendancy from contamination.

if they can’t escape they’ll die here — chests pushed outward, cracked ribs — with the secrets of the xenomorphs and ascendancy lost between them.

“your actions are not out of character, eli vanto, and—” red eyes close briefly, a sign of discomfort. “—i am glad you’re here. nevertheless, you carry my legacy and i would like to see it survive this.”

“i have no intentions of dying.” eli feels his eyes sting, “nor of letting you die.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

[ UP.UP.UP.

stretch thin. death scented ozymandias — david, king of kings. in his mortuary temple at the very edge of the galaxy watching his creation spread.

((struggle to find their way back to their maker.))

taste: metal and blood and scent. caught.

a shriek like an alarm bell; thud.thud.thud.

scrapped footsteps.

living; warm; jaw cracked open, two mouths; kill to defend.

d o w n.]

 

 

* * *

 

 

the plan, once laid out, is simple enough: reduce the ship to nothing. the odds are not in their favour, two against legions but eli trusts thrawn and thrawn trusts eli — and that is the true weapon in this war.

crawling within the depths of the chimaera it is thrawn’s ability to see in the infrared spectrum that gets them through the darkness, it is eli’s nimble fingers that assemble the explosives. their time apart has dissipated as they work together, compensating for the other’s weaknesses.

unavoidable, however, that they would carry out their plan unnoticed. a slightly noise is enough rouse unwanted attention, shrieks echoing as they spill from the ceilings and walls.

thrawn strikes first, spinning in a graceful roundhouse kick that delays the xenomorph attack on the intended target: eli, who is the real threat to the entire colony, attaching explosives. enough to cause a blast to not only bring down a star destroyer but to burn it entirely, leaving nothing behind.

to eradicate this threat, all must be burnt to nothing.

eli moves, dislodged from his task by the swish of a spiked tail as the xenomorph regains focus. it barely misses impaling eli, tears his uniform, and he’s stumbling. the xenomorph swings back around and hits him — sending eli down as if he’d been hit with a metal pipe.

winded, dazed, he opens his mouth trying to breathe as it turns on him ready to punch a hole through his cranium.

thrawn gets there first, two blaster bolts as he sprints towards eli, charging straight on. a reckless but effective move; blasters don’t kill xenomorphs with one shot. one needs a weapon with more kick, something sturdy or several well aimed blaster hits.

the xenomorph jumps upwards, metal crunching as it latches to the ceiling and gets ready to pounce at thrawn. eli holds his breath as thrawn ducks, aiming his blaster at its open mouth before firing again.

scratching, angry shrieks — wounded but not dead, distracted enough to let thrawn close the final stretch of distance between them and help eli up.

“i am sorry for having to blow up your ship.”

“circumstances demand extreme solutions.” thrawn replies, holding eli’s arm as they break into a run, adrenaline fuelling them as they leave behind the enraged screams.

 

 

* * *

 

 

[  
FIRE  
FIRE  
FIRE

a conflagration, collapsing structures.

they scream in unison. call out for david

deathdeathdeath — ]

 

 

* * *

 

 

eli feels the white padded walls and glass press against his back. the pod is far too small for two grown men. with his head tucked beneath thrawn’s chin, his slower heartbeat rattling his bones, eli counts the minutes.

he’s attached the tracker right, hailing the spacecraft he brought. (thrawn’s hand, sleepily resting on eli’s hip as they float in the nothingness, unbroken white noise in the background. this wouldn’t be a bad way to die, eli reflects.)

but there is light and the rumbling of engines breaking the moment. (eli’s hand, clenching fabric, willing to extend the moment as long as possible).

 

later, after they’ve both showered and patched up their wounds, they sit side by side in the cockpit, the core worlds in the distance.

thrawn’s exploring the deep scars eli bears from surviving the xenomorphs, touching with certainty as he assess the damage, gnarled white pink flesh beneath the pads of thrawn’s fingers. eli sighs, content.

“what are we going to do?” eli asks.

thrawn turns, red eyes on eli, thoughtful and familiar. “ _our_ mission is to protect the ascendancy against threats.”

“somehow, i’d knew you’d say that.” eli leans over with a datapad. “while you showered i took the liberty of uploading the data we obtained to locate potential areas of infestation. ones which could spread into the unknown regions if left unchecked.”

“well done, eli.” thrawn’s smile is a small, genuine thing which elicits a warmth inside eli’s chest that sends his heartbeat spiralling.

“i’m glad to be back by your side, sir, it is where i belong.” eli stares at the stars, his face warming.

“yes,” thrawn says after a pause, “i believe this to be true.”


End file.
